BUDOCK AND FALMOUTH RESIDENTS FLOCK TO SECOND POST OFFICE MEETING
August 26, 2008 2:29 PM
A representative from Post Office Ltd witnessed first hand the full extent of local anger over plans to close Post Offices in Budock and Falmouth.
Over 200 local residents attended meetings at Budock Village Hall and Falmouth Rugby Club last week.
The meetings were set up by Falmouth MP Julia Goldsworthy in response to residents' demands to quiz a representative of the Post Office.
The man put forward for the difficult job was Colin Pound, a senior manager at Post Office Ltd.
Mr Pound, who is part of the consultation team, said he admired the strength of spirit in Falmouth and Budock.
He told residents that they were "unlucky" that their Post Offices had been placed on the Government's closure list.
Residents at the packed meeting in Budock responded by saying that the Post Office was essential to the village.
Without it, the whole village would be left without vital local services, they said.
They told Mr Pound that the alternative Post Office proposed by the Government, at Boslowick, was not on any bus route from Budock.
One resident said: "The reality is that people will have to get the bus into Falmouth to go to the main Post Office, which is already going to be oversubscribed."
Other residents complained that the big hill in Budock meant that access to other Post Offices was impossible for many residents without using a car.
At Falmouth, Mr Pound was amazed to learn that the consultation had not taken account of the hundreds of people from Falmouth Docks who use Bar Road Post Office.
He urged people to write to the consultation team to inform them of these facts.
He said: "What matters is evidence. Where Post Offices have been saved elsewhere, it was because of evidence that was overlooked in the initial consultations.
"That is what we need to see now, so I would urge you to write letters to the consultation team and copy them to your local MP."
Commenting after the meetings, Julia Goldsworthy said: "I was proud to see so many people at these meetings and I think we left Mr Pound in no doubt as to the strength of feeling about these closures.
"The Post Office have all but admitted that people are going to suffer because of these closures.
"The Government uses terms like 'wastage' as though it was not real people's lives they were talking about.
"However, the people of Falmouth have made it clear that they will not allow the Government to take their Post Offices without a fight.
"They can be assured that we will continue to fight these unfair and unnecessary closures - even after the consultation is over."
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